Closing Time is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in March 1973 on Asylum Records. Produced and arranged by former Lovin' Spoonful member Jerry Yester, Closing Time was the first of seven of Waits's major releases through Asylum, the final being Heartattack and Vine (1980).
Upon release, the album was mildly successful in the United States, although it did not chart and received little attention from music press in the United Kingdom and elsewhere internationally. The album is noted for being folk and jazz influenced. Critical reaction to Closing Time was positive. The album's lead, and only, single, "Ol' '55", attracted attention due to a cover version by Waits's better known label mates The Eagles. Other songs from the album were covered by artists ranging from Tim Buckley to Bette Midler. The album has sold under 500,000 copies in the United States and has gained a contemporary cult following among rock fans. The album has been reissued twice since its initial release, in 1999 and again in 2010.
Tom Waits began his musical career in 1970, performing every Monday night at The Troubadour, a venue in Los Angeles. Waits’ setlists at these series of shows, described as "hootenanny nights" consisted primarily of Bob Dylan covers although it included songs which would later appear on Closing Time and its successor, The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), including "Ice Cream Man", "Virginia Avenue", "Ol' '55", "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You", "Shiver Me Timbers" and "Diamonds on my Windshield". Around this time, Waits also began working as a doorman at the nearby club, The Heritage, which was also a coffee house by day. In November 1970, Waits performed his first paid show at The Heritage, earning $25 for his performance. At a Troubadour performance in summer 1971, Herb Cohen inadvertently spotted Waits and became his manager. Through Cohen's contacts, Waits recorded a number of demos in Los Angeles in late summer 1971 with producer and engineer Robert Duffey, later released as The Early Years in two respective volumes, against Waits’ wishes. In order to focus on his career, Waits relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles in early 1972 and performed more frequently at The Troubadour, where David Geffen discovered him performing "Grapefruit Moon." The performance, which "floored" Geffen, led Geffen to negotiate with Waits’ manager Cohen and Waits signed to Asylum Records within a month.
Closing Time, at the time of its release, was received by the American music press with positive critical acclaim, although its coverage was limited. In its original Rolling Stone review, the album was positively referred to as "a remarkable debut album", compared to Randy Newman, and was branded as a "boozier, earthier version of same and delights in rummaging through the attics of nostalgia, the persona that emerges from this remarkable debut album is Waits’ own, at once sardonic, vulnerable and emotionally charged" while the "Dean of American Rock Critics" Robert Christgau noted that with his "jazz-schooled piano and drawling delivery [...] Waits exploits an honest sentimentality which he undercuts just enough to be credible", also noting his similarity to Newman. Allmusic held the album in high regard, describing "his lovelorn lyrics" as being "sentimental without being penetrating. But he also has a gift for gently rolling pop melodies" and his "self-conscious melancholy can be surprisingly moving." Billboard referred to the album upon its release as "hauntingly lovely [...] which captures the essence of a moment, a thought or a love."
The album received little coverage the United Kingdom and elsewhere internationally, with its promotion being little more than a featured advert in the NME.[1] However, in recent years, NME has described Waits as a "veteran singer-songwriter."[28]
Closing Time reached a wider audience through cover versions by more successful artists and have since continued to have been covered. Later in 1973, Tim Buckley released the album Sefronia, with a cover of "Martha," the first ever cover of a Waits song by a known artist. Buckley's version was also included in the 1995 tribute compilation Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits. "Ol' '55" was recorded by The Eagles for their 1974 album On the Border. "Martha" was covered again in 1979 by Bette Midler on Saturday Night Live and once again by Meat Loaf on his 1995 album Welcome to the Neighborhood. "Ice Cream Man" was covered in 1991 by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, one of Waits’ influences, for his album Black Music For White People. "Lonely" was covered by Bat For Lashes, and a live version was included on the deluxe edition of her album Two Suns.
Track listing:
All songs written by Tom Waits.
No. Title Length
1. "Ol' '55" 3:58
2. "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" 3:54
3. "Virginia Avenue" 3:10
4. "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)" 3:40
5. "Midnight Lullaby" 3:26
6. "Martha" 4:30
7. "Rosie" 4:03
8. "Lonely" 3:12
9. "Ice Cream Man" 3:05
10. "Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love)" 3:38
11. "Grapefruit Moon" 4:50
12. "Closing Time" (instrumental) 4:20
Total length: 45:46
No comments:
Post a Comment